Volvo Construction Equipment (VCE ) is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of construction equipment. The company’s broad product line includes haulers, loaders, excavators, compact equipment and road equipment.

Volvo engineers recently designed a new water pump housing for the company’s A25G and A30G articulated haulers. Engineers used simulation to optimize the design of internal ow passages in the housing, but needed to build a prototype to perform functional testing to validate the new design. Until recently, the company would have invested in tooling. The tooling cost for this project would have been approximately $9,090, with the part cost around $909. The lead time for producing the prototype would have been 20 weeks minimum.